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The Storm War
The Storm War was fought between 296 AA and 297 AA between the forces of the Kingdom of the Stormlands and the Kingdom of the Greenbelt. The war ended in a stalemate, with both sides suffering losses with little to show for it. Prelude For centuries since the Failed Conquest, House Durrandon and House Yronwood invaded each others' lands. Neither the Stormlanders nor the Dornishmen ever won a decisive victory in the offensive sense, though both sides proved able at defending their homelands. King Durrandon turned his attention to the south following the War of the Trident. Morale in the Stormlands was very high, having scored so many victories so quickly. Their host marched with great haste and in good order to the Boneway, where the Storm King prepared for his assault. Word did not escape King Yronwood's ears of the host marching to his border, however, and he sent word to marshal his forces. Lord Wyl would be the first to respond, historically bearing the brunt of aggression from the Stormlands owing to its location on the Boneway. He marched his host over the river into Stormlander territory, ensuring that Durrandon would retaliate. The War The First Battle of the Boneway As Lord Wyl's men marched deeper into the Stormlands, they encountered the host of King Durrandon-- only half of it, however. Unbeknownst to them, the Stormlanders had divided their forces. Half would be bypassing the Boneway via the Sea of Dorne. Even depleted, however, the Stormlanders under Lord Caron made short work of Lord Wyl and his men, sending them in a full retreat up the Boneway. Lord Wyl had prepared for this eventuality, however, and stationed archers in the rocks. He drew the Stormlanders into his trap and sprung it, showering arrows on the exposed host. The Stormlanders retreated from the bottleneck and back to the north, ending the first battle of the war. The Battle of the Dunes News of the Battle of the Boneway enraged King Durrandon, who sent word to move ahead the planned attack by Lord Estermont on Yronwood itself. The Stormlanders left over one thousand men behind on Cape Wrath as a result, lacking room on their ships. In a brief parlay, Lord Estermont called on Yronwood to surrender. King Yronwood refused, however, citing the proud Dornish tradition of remaining free of external control. The two men returned to their camps, and the battle initiated. Lord Estermont and his men struck hard, and the sands were wet by the blood of many hundreds of men. In the end of the day, however, it would be King Yronwood who emerged victorious. Estermont and his men retreated to their ships, sailing back to where they had come. Preparations at Wyl King Durrandon himself lead an additional four thousand men to the Boneway, joining the bloodied host of Lord Caron at the northern entrance to the bloody path. Marcher men were sent ahead to clear the way, being the men best suited to the task. After a short delay, the rested and now larger Stormlander force proceeded southward toward Wyl. Lord Wyl continued his southward retreat, encountering Lord Fowler's reinforcements from Yronwood along the way. The two of them returned to Wyl and made an effort to fortify the keep before Durrandon arrived. Arrive the Storm King did, and he began to lay siege to Wyl. In Yronwood, the court was frantic. King Yronwood did not wish to march north with what forces he had, and opted to send for help from the Kingdom of the Torrentine over the objections of many of his lords that wished to march immediately. King Maric II Dayne laughed off the plea, recalling the Greenbelt's treatment of his House during the Vulture's War. His son, Cedric Dayne, decided to help regardless and raised a small portion of his house's levy in support of Yronwood. This news in hand, Yronwood and those forces who survived the Battle of the Dunes took to the road and made for Wyl. Harrying the Rearguard The Boneway was legendary for its treachery, and the Dornish moreso. King Durrandon's host found itself beset by raids against its supply train by what seemed at first to be Dornishmen, then later to be smallfolk and sellswords. These raiders would prove to be such an annoyance that King Durrandon called a halt to his march, seeking to destroy them before moving onwards and leaving himself exposed to further attack. What he found instead were something akin to legends. The smallfolk would scarcely speak of these bandits, referring to them instead as a brotherhood without banners. They spoke of a dead warrior and a man with a flaming sword fighting for the good of all-- an inflammatory statement to make. The pause bought Uller, Dayne, and Yronwood time to assemble at Wyl alongside Fowler and Lord Wyl. The Second Battle of the Boneway The combined Dornish forces, nearly fifteen thousand strong, left their defenses at Wyl and marched on to meet Durrandon in the field. In the ensuing battle Durrandon found himself in a disadvantageous position, pressed against the Red Mountains with little room to maneuver. Deciding against standing this ground he sounded the retreat, and the Stormlanders turned north. All along the way to the Stormlands the host found itself harried both by Dornish outriders and by the so-called Brotherhood Without Banners, which disappeared shortly after the Stormlanders returned to their borders. The Dornishmen declined to give chase any further, and the war ended inconclusively. Category:War Category:Kingdom of the Greenbelt Category:Kingdom of the Stormlands